Found a copy of an old game (early-mid '90s), X-com terror from the deep. Absolute classic, not all that well known, but its a dual-role game, part world-management in realtime, buying supplies, selling surplus (and selling captured enemy technology on the black market, if its surplus to requirements), research and development, such as autopsies and interrogations of enemy aliens (the former generally follows the latter
), hiring and firing troops, scientists, engineers (the scientists do the research on both X-com developed new tech, and on captured alien technology, whilst the engineers build the goods, although captured ammunition, weapons, can be used directly also, scavenging as much as possible is a good idea, means you haven't to waste time, money and in many cases some scarce resources, such as the radioactive element the aliens use in their technology for power generation and their powerful ultrasound-based weaponry)
The troops do the other part, the missions, where alien submarines have either landed to get up to whatever sort of no good they are getting upto, the boots on the ground putting the bullets and grenades in faces, at least for creatures that HAVE one, and exterminating the nasty as hell 'hacked' former humans. Its quite a lovecraftian themed sort of game, they even use the name 'deep ones' for the former humans, surgically and chemically altered beyond recognition, and given a short ranged, inaccurate but very, very deadly electrical weapon , unfortunately it seems to be built into them, hard-wired into their tissues and useless to the troops, but to start out with, there are all sorts of tools for evening up the odds a bit, from the lowliest little gas propelled dart pistol, to automatic harpoon rifles, gas-powered cannons firing solid bolts, either armor piercing, or tipped with a choice of either an explosive charge or a white phosphorus shell, as well as a slightly less powerful autocannon, each round does less damage per hit, than the big bulky gas cannon, but unlike the latter, the autocannon thing can fire on automatic, capable of launching bursts of high explosive, white phosphorus or armor piercing mini-torpedoes. Or failing that, there are always regular torpedoes, scaled down to something a soldier can fire from the shoulder, manual reload only, single shot per, but capable of doing a lot of damage with a bloody big rocket, either high explosive or white phosphorus, as well as grenades, dye-based grenades that function like smoke grenades, for cover, or blocking line of sight, sneaking up on something you want dead or captured alive (for that, there is a sort of cryogenic tazer prod, freezes enemies solid, although good for hand to hand assaults only, meaning you have to sneak up behind the enemy, with a backup trooper ready, if the thermal shock prod doesn't put the alien down and out cold, so to speak, then the other trooper is there to just put a burst of harpoon gun or armor-piercing heavy weapons fire into the little sod at point blank range.
DOS game, but playing it on a linux box using DOSbox, the missions always vary too, aliens and scenery in different places, quite a number of different species of alien working together, all come down on a huge crashed spacecraft/hybrid sub/aircraft. Been down there somewhere in the depths since before the extinction of the dinosaurs, in cryogenic stasis, now they are beginning to first attempt to repair the craft, and then to raise it up from the abyss and wipe the human race out/enslave the remainder, and X-com, are the only force in their way that has a cat in hell's chance, national defense forces getting the shit kicked out of them. So X-com were formed, in a previous, land-based war with relatives of the creatures fought this time around, only genetically and surgically altered as aquatic races.
Already captured a few of their weapons, which make X-com's starting weapons, purchasable ,from the worlds governments look like kid's toys. One shot from even their weakest little pistol is enough to ensure an almost certain kill, or very rarely, a lucky survivor with a critical injury, who is going to die soon unless they get emergency medical care. The medical kits that function under water one has to research and build themselves.
Already started a first line of research, researching a kind of particle beam weapons, automatic, relatively lightweight, and more powerful than anything but the heavy high explosive type weapons, among human technology, even the pistols are, and these, so far are the first, and only ones in the series of a pistol, an automatic, more accurate, more powerful rifle, and a semi-auto only heavy gauss cannon that I've researched and started building in the new game I just started. The pistols, not fantastic accuracy, but more powerful than the harpoon rifles, and even armor piercing fire from the aquatic version of an mini-torpedo-launching autocannon, although not quite as powerful as high explosive fire. A lot lighter though, and a LOT faster to fire, taking less of the time units used to perform all actions, or almost all, be it kneeling to get a better shot off, moving, priming and then throwing grenades, which are timer based, can be set to go off either immediately, or anything up to about 30-something turns from when they hit the deck. The exception being a kind of proximity mine, which are just made to go live, then thrown, anything that moves close enough, gets a face full of boom. A proximity land (or sea-floor) mine basically.
And some really BIG explosive packs for demolitions. Can't throw them far at all, so setting a timer long enough in turns to GTFO of the area is a good idea if the combat diver isn't to be a suicide bomber. Which isn't the best tactic, not ENTIRELY useless, carrying a live grenade or demolitions explosive, because they only go off once thrown or dropped and the end turn subroutine in the game code runs. So it means if trying to sneak up on the enemy, but if after putting a bullet in their back, they don't drop, and have time to turn round and fire, if they hit the attempted assassin, then they are screwed, mincemeat. But if they have a dirty great explosive charge clipped to their belt, or in a back/shoulder pack etc. then they have the chance to reach out from the grave and drag their killer to hell with them
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Its an old game, turn based isometric sci-fi with lovecraftian horror elements to it. Even a highly psionic 'great sleeper', the ultimate enemy, if that gets to awake, if the final mission fails. All hell breaks loose, literally. The coffin thing its in, it's stasis pod, its even marked with a face with a load of tentacles that looks AWFULLY C'thulhu-like. That and deep ones? I think I know who's books Microprose were reading when they coded that game.
Kinda novel, neat principle, combat diver special forces, and emphasizing skill and tactics over just charging in, which will probably get you killed. I did lose a man during my first mission, but as long as the money flows, one can hire replacements. And I already did beforehand, rotating them in and out of the fight early
on in the game, to keep their skills honed for later, I don't plan to lose any more than necessary, but it happens.
Oh, and there are tanks, too. Initially only two types available, one only usable under water, with a torpedo launcher turret mount, and the other useful on land or undersea. The alien craft, either land, or one shoots them down, and those missions are under sea, but the enemy will try to politically foul things up for X-col special forces, by pulling shit like hijacking cruise liners and executing civillian hostages unless they are put down with extreme prejudice. And 'terror site' missions, basically what it sounds like, the fuckers invade a city and start butchering civilians. Meaning you have to fight on land, again, killing or capturing anything that moves that isn't human, although it is, on occasion, something that happens, a civilian walks too close to a prox mine and gets blown to meatpaste, or is in the vicinity when an explosive shell goes off, or a missed shot sets them on fire, blows them to bits, punches them full of holes, hits them with an antiproton burst from the particle beam weapons, tank shell hits one, stray grenade, or once one starts using the alien's own weaponry against them, it is horrendously powerful, a tiny ultrasound pistol packing the sort of punch in one spot you'd get from the area effect of a torpedo. But point-hits only, none of them have automatic fire, but are both accurate and very, very deadly.
Great game, lots of variables, lots of mission types, with the hack someone coded for it, one can even randomize the map layouts and craft layouts. IIRC I first downloaded it when I still had to connect up with a dial up modem, in the early 90's. Damn, how much computing power has increased compared to back then
to say nothing of the internet speeds. But this game is infinitely replayable. And there is an even bigger, better more advanced update, where new technology,
new alien species, mission types, buildings, subs, weapons are available, even new flying sub craft. I just need to find out how to make it work on linux.
